By God's grace, our team has safely returned from a 5,600km Mission throughout 6 provinces of South Africa. In the last month we conducted 140 meetings at 11 schools, 7 churches, 5 Mission stations, 2 Bible colleges, a Ministers' Conference and a Great Commission Seminar.

Despite some torrential rain and thunderstorms in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu/Natal, we managed to keep almost all the materials dry and on this Mission and only experienced two punctures.

Back to the Bible

I was invited to present a week of lectures on Church History at Back to the Bible Training College. There are over 60 languages represented amongst the 140 students and 25 staff at BBTC. My lectures there included, Understanding the Times, The French Revolution, Crusades Vs. Jihad, Understanding the Crusades, ISIS, Iraq, Nigeria, Egypt, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Al Shabaab and Boko Haram, Samuel Ajai Crowther of Nigeria, Unequally Yoked, God and Government, Biblical Principles Which God Blesses, Charles Spurgeon - The Prince of Preachers, Between Edinburgh 1910 and Cape Town 2010 Missions Conferences, The Causes and Catastrophic Consequences of the First World War, How the Greatest Century of Missions was Derailed Into the Worst Century of Persecution, Lies We Have All Believed and Distinguishing Between Propaganda and Real History.

KwaSizabantu Ministers' Conference

It was a privilege to be a speaker at the Ministers' Conference, attended by 1,500 delegates, at KwaSizabantu Mission in KwaZulu. Participants came from Angola, Armenia, Belgium, Benin, the Congo, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The theme of the Conference was, Lord Abide With Us. The text of the message presented at the KwaSizabantu Ministers Conference and the PowerPoint that accompanied it, are accessible on our www.frontline.org.za website on Slideshare.

William Carey School of World Missions

We also had the opportunity of conducting a two-day Great Commission Seminar at the William Carey School of World Missions near Verulam in KwaZulu/Natal. This included, Putting the Greatness Back into the Great Commission, Making Disciples of All Nations, The Family, Faith and Upbringing of David Livingstone, an Evangelism Workshop, (incorporating Way of the Master and Evangelism Explosion), and a Muslim Evangelism Workshop, (including The Challenge of Islam, The Bible Vs. the Quran, Jesus Vs. Muhammad, and Challenging Muslims), How the Greatest Century of Missions Was Derailed into the Worst Century of Persecution, C.T. Studd - Cricketer and Pioneer, Samuel Ajai Crowther and Christian Preparedness. We also screened the Andrew Murray film as part of this Great Commission Seminar.

Christian Action

The International Co-ordinator of the Christian Action Network, Taryn Hodgson, spoke at 27 meetings, which included: 3 Christian Action updates, 3 Sunday schools and 17 school meetings. Her presentations included Fight the New Drug, Traffick Proof, How to Survive and Thrive at University, Reaching Young People for Christ, a Christian Action Workshop and an Evangelism Workshop. Trainee Missionary, Abraham, spoke at 13 different meetings, including 8 school meetings. In total, I conducted 98 meetings, including 60 lectures, 20 radio programmes, 7 sermons, 6 school assemblies and 5 Bible studies.

School Ministry

Our presentations at schools included the Ten Commandments, Way of the Master, Evangelism Explosion, Animals in the Bible, Will Animals be in Heaven?, In The Frontline - Angola, Mozambique and Sudan, and The Threat of Islam and Persecution of Christians Today.

Making Disciples

Sermons presented included: The Hard Words of Jesus, Martha and Mary, Amos, The Threat of Islam in Biblical Prophecy and Today, 2 Timothy 2 and 1 Timothy 4, These will all soon be accessible on our www.livingstonefellowship.co.za website and through our www.SermonAudio.com link.

Security and Survival Preparedness

Our Mission team also conducted three Security and Survival Training Workshops and Christian Preparedness practicals at Mission stations and Bibles colleges. This included P.T., Self-Defence practical drills, lectures and Bible studies on scenarios in the Bible and recent history. To assist vulnerable Christians in threatened areas, Frontline Fellowship is designing Security and Survival Workshops and Manuals. We are developing a comprehensive strategy to help Churches set up security ministries and providepractical, hands-on, training for farmers, families, congregations, missions, ministries, Bible Colleges and vulnerable communities.

Serving the Suffering

As a Mission of Christians from a military background, dedicated to serving persecuted Christians for over 33 years, we have experienced ambushes, attacks, aerial bombardments, rocket and artillery fire, thefts, terrorism, capture and imprisonment. Utilising lessons learned from these experiences, we are offering training for Christians to be able to withstand and resist Islamic terrorist attacks. For this we need all the help, practical support and intercessory prayer that you can offer. Churches throughout Africa are facing some of the most intense, sustained and violent threats in recent memory. With such a vast amount of Churches being targeted, attacked, looted, burned and bombed in Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, the Nuba Mountains, Sudan, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Kenya and Tanzania, obviously something must done. "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the Faith and is worse than an unbeliever." 1Timothy 5:8

Resisting Jihad

The Jihadists have had an open playing field with no other team on the field to prevent them scoring endless goals. Churches have been seen as soft and easy targets for terrorism. In Cape Town the Reformation Society has conducted four Security and Survival presentations and the staff of Frontline Fellowship have gone through Security workshops to prepare our personnel for contingencies. (The audio MP3's and lecture notes will soon be available.) "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses." Nehemiah 4:14

Wonderful Wildlife

We had the privilege of seeing giraffe, elephant, rhino, silver-backed jackals, wildebeest, buffalo, crocodiles, hippos, baboons, monkeys, kudu, impala, wild dogs, lion and eagles. "For since the Creation of the world, God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and Divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made." Romans 1:20

Education is a Battlefield

It was inspiring to visit so many Mission and Christian schools around the country. We also managed to minister at some government schools. The contrasts are quite striking. Many government schools are woefully overcrowded, sometimes with 140 students crammed into a single class room, with 30 desks to share among them. Yet, incredible private Christian schools are being increasingly harassed with time-wasting and expensive accreditation, teaching and facilities assessments from the Department of Education. Umalusi is a task force set up by the Department of Education to accredit and "quality assure" independent schools. The schools are expected to pay for the accreditation procedures every seven years, submit to a "performance evaluation" twice in those time periods and update Umalusi annually on policy development and Evaluations.

Exorbitant Extortion

Despite the fact that these schools are actually taking students off the hands of the overcrowded state schools, government representatives from Umalusi, are attempting to charge exorbitant fees for inspectors and assessments which the schools neither need, nor want. As most of these schools already belong to the Independent Schools Association of South Africa (ISASA), or the National Alliance of Independent Schools Association (NAISA), these time wasting and expensive procedures seem totally unnecessary. Most private, or independent, schools, particularly the Christian ones, are vastly superior in the quality of their education compared to the state schools. Teachers and principals have pointed out that although they have already gone through complex and demanding accreditations with their own associations (ACSI, ISASA and the CIE) they are now expected to be pay again to be accredited with Umalusi!

Time Wasting Expensive Bureaucracy

Some teachers wondered whether this is about government "job creation", or revenue raising, because many teachers are drowning in paper work and have to spend their weekends and holidays filling out forms that they doubt anyone is ever going to read! Many of these Christian schools have 100% Matric pass rates, while some of the local government have a 0% pass rate! Several schools have reported that they have had to employ people just to handle the Umalusi paper work.

Harassing Bible Colleges

Even Bible Colleges are being harassed by the South African Qualifications Association (SAQA) and told that they have to pay tens-of-thousands of Rands to SAQA to have their certificates and diplomas approved! The Constitution guarantees Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Association. However these freedoms are being violated by the intrusive, time-consuming, money-wasting demands of SAQA and Umalusi.

Hypocrisy

It does seem highly hypocritical that officials from the government are walking around impeccable independent school facilities solemnly counting the numbers of desks and bathroom facilities, while state schools are often in a state of ruin and disrepair, with broken windows, overcrowded class rooms, no plumbing and frequently no textbooks being delivered even for an entire academic year!

Wide Gates to Hell

Reformer Dr. Martin Luther warned: "I am much afraid that schools will prove to be wide gates to hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not constantly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt."

Crime and Violence

It was also disturbing to see the deteriorating security situation in many parts of the country with even remote Mission stations and Bible colleges needing to erect high fences, security gates and burglar bars, even on chapels, as a result of increasing crime and violence in their areas.

Wild Fires in Cape Town

Cape Town has been hit by a devastating series of wild fires that have destroyed over 5,500 hectares of forestry reserve, damaging over 6 Million Rands worth of Table Mountain infrastructure. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated, 198 hours were flown by 26 aircraft dropping 2 million litres of water in 2,000 water drops. Even Rondebosch Common was hit with a wild fire. Fire fighters confided to me that they definitely suspect arson. They expressed their strong suspicions that these wild fires have erupted since the ANC threatened to make the Western Cape ungovernable, in their attempt to seize control here.

The Battle over History

During this South Africa Mission we were also able to visit a number of monuments, museums and battle sites. While some of these museums are well run and carefully maintained by diligent and committed people, those that are in state hands are often mismanaged and we saw evidence of attempts to hijack history. It was Karl Marx who declared that "the first battlefield is the re-writing of history".

Hijacking History

It is critically important that we seek to preserve and treasure our history from a Christian perspective. It was shocking to visit the Mission Church Museum in Long Street, Cape Town and see how all the beautiful wooden free standing displays of Missions, Churches and Missionaries who established Christianity in South Africa have been taken off the floor, folded up and are collecting dust and cobwebs upstairs, behind the organ. Political, ANC, Mandela and Islamic propaganda displays have been set up obscuring the Bible displays and part of the pulpit area, in what is the oldest place of worship still standing in South Africa.

Forgotten Heritage

Even many independent schools are not visiting Christian monuments such as the Huguenot Monument and Museum, or the Castle, but are allowing the children to be railroaded into politically correct propaganda day trips.

Christian Heritage Museums Needed

There is a desperate need for suitable buildings to be made available for an independent Christian Heritage Museum. The Reformation Society has been accumulating artefacts, maps, posters, pictures, books and manuscripts on our Christian heritage and producing PowerPoint presentations and Church History Overview to empower Christian school teachers with Providential History. With suitable venues, we can set up inspiring, God-honouring displays and presentations to inform and inspire students, tourists and history enthusiasts with our Christian Heritage and a vision to fulfil the Great Commission in our generation.

Creation Science Museum

There is also a real need for a Creation Science Museum in South Africa. The Creation Museum near Cincinnati has been a tremendous success. We visited the Science Festival at the 1820 Settlers Monument in Grahamstown and were struck by the need for Christian ministries to be better represented at such events. As we have Creation Scientists such as Dr. Philip Stott and Dr. Angela Stott in South Africa, sponsorship needs to be arranged to ensure that their Scripture and Science ministry is prominently represented at such Science Festivals in the future.

Discipling Nations

We are involved in a world war of worldviews. A Clash of civilisations. In this battle for hearts and minds, museums, monuments, textbooks and teachers are vital. We need to invest in education, not only through establishing Christian schools, and resisting state pressures to compromise our curriculum, but by establishing and maintaining Christian museums and monuments and developing more Bible-based textbooks and curriculum resources.

Resources for Reformation

Visit www.reformationSA.org website for articles, PowerPoints, audio lectures and historic links and the www.christianlibertybooks.co.za website for books, manuals and DVDs that will empower your congregation and school with a Biblical worldview and perspective on history and current events.

Recovering from Attack

By God's grace, our Webmaster, Brendon, has mostly recovered from the vicious attack in January, when he was stabbed 15 times with a screwdriver, while waiting on Muizenberg railway station platform. Brendon recovered sufficiently to be released from hospital despite suffering from a collapsed lung and water on the lung. He has recovered his ability to walk and is now back at the Mission.

Please Pray for Lenora

My wife, Lenora, and I, celebrated our 26th Wedding anniversary this week (25/3/15). Last week Lenora had surgery to remove six lymph nodes from under her right arm. Biopsies revealed each of them to be cancerous. We met her Oncologist today to discuss treatment which she recommends to include radiation and chemotherapy. It is almost 5 years since Lenora's cancer surgery. We thought that we had finished with this battle against cancer. However, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power of love and of a sound mind. We have won the victory over cancer before and we will beat it again.

Bibles for Africa

Our Literature4Africa ministry offloaded another 17 tonne container of Bibles and books today. We are also preparing another 30 tonnes of Bibles and books for shipment to Zimbabwe.

Building Project

With our Mission bursting at the seams, we are trusting the Lord for the resources to build on to our Mission facilities and converting our loft into a multi-purpose hall with more bedrooms to accommodate Missionaries and participants for our courses. At the moment most of our services are held outside and many of our GCC participants are accommodated in tents on our lawn.

Thank You

We are most grateful for your prayers, encouragement, and support, without which none of our ministries would be possible. Thank you for the financial sacrifices you have made to enable this Mission in Africa to advance. Please continue to pray for our many ongoing Book Projects, outreaches and cross-border field Missions.